Electrolytic apparatus.



R. L. WHITEHEAD.

ELECTROLYTIC APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 10. 1913.

Patented Dec. 5, 1916.

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ROBERT L. WHITEHEAD, OF PERTH AMBOY, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN SMELTING AND REEINING COMPANY, OF MAURER, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

ELECTROLYTIC APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 5, 1916.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ROBERT L. WHITE- HEAD, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Perth Amboy, county of Middlesex, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrolytic Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and

exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in electrolytic apparatus, and particularly to the arrangement of the electrodes in such apparatus and the connections for maintaining electric contact of an efiicient character and of low resistivity throughout the system.

Prior to my invention, it has been customary in electrolytic apparatus for the deposition of metal 'from solutions (as, for instance, in the electro-metallurgy of copper, nickel, and the like) to arrange the electrolytic vats containing the solution to be electrolized, alongside of each other, and in such relationship that the working current entered a bus-bar, with which the anodes of the first vat of the series connected. From these several anodes, the working current then passed through the solution to the several cathodes of said vat, thereby electrolyzing the solution therein. The cathodes of the first vat, in these prior arrangements, rested upon and made electrical connection with a supporting bar, which, in its turn, supported and made electrical connection with the anodes of the next succeeding vat in the series. The main defect in this general arrangement has been that it involved a double series of electrical contacts along the common bar supporting the cathodes of the first vat and the anodes of the second vat, and so on, through the series. This difiiculty is of particular importance in electrolytic apparatus, for the reason that the working current employed is of relatively low voltage, so that the total loss of energy due to the large number of individual contacts called for in an extensive installation is very considerable in amount and importance.

My present invention is intended to minimize this loss of energy, first, by connecting the cathodes of the first vat of the series directl with the anodes of the second vat, and so on throughout the entire installation, whereby the common connecting bar of the former arrangement may be entirely dispensed with, and the number of contacts throughout the system is reduced to onehalf, and, secondly, the individual contact between a cathode and its connecting anode, or between the supply bus-bar and the individual anode, or between the exit bus-bar and the individual cathode consists of a ridge or projection on the one and a recess in the-other the wallsof the recess coming in wedging contact with the projection or ridge on both sides thereof and clearance being provided beyond the contacting surfaces whereby a highly efficient and reliable electrical connection is'established and maintained.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1. represents a partial plan view of electrolytic apparatus embodying the preferred form of my improvements; Fig. 2. represents a transverse section thereof, partly in elevation; Fig. 3. represents, on a larger scale and in side elevation, the electric connection between the cathode of one of the vats and the anode of its neighbor in the series; Fig. 4. represents a top plan view thereof; and Fig. 5. represents a sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawing, A. indicates the individual members of a series of electrolytic vats, forming part of an installation for electrolytic purposes, as, for instance, the deposition of metal from its solutions, by means of an electric current of low voltage. The anodes a are provided with supporting lugs Z), 0, for suspending them in the solution. The lugs 7) of the anodes rest upon the bus-bar which supplies the working current to the apparatus, and the lugs 0 rest upon an insulating strip cl, as shown. The cathodes e are likewise provided with lugs f, connecting them to the bar 7, which is thus electrically connected with and con stitutes a part of the cathode structure, and the ends of the bar 9 constitute the supports from which the cathode is suspended in the solution. One end of each cathode supporting bar rests upon the insulating strip h,

/ and the opposite end rests upon the supporting lug b of the corresponding anode in the next vat of the series.

It will be apparent, therefore,- that, instead of the double set of contactsincident to the use of the common'connecting bar of 1 the former arrangement herein before referred to, an electrolytic apparatus rovided with my improvements has but a single set of.connectin'g contacts between, the cathodes of the several vats andthe anodes of the corresponding neighboring vats in the series, that is to say, the single contact established between each cathode of one vat and the corresponding anode of the next vat, so

\ that there is a corresponding saving in energy of one half of the loss incident to the usual practice.

It will be particularly noted that my preferred connection between the cathode and anode is a wedging contact. The preferred form of this connection is fully indicated in Figs. 3, 4, and 5, and, as shown therein consists of a ridge or projection 2', cast integral with the ing 6, cooperating with a recess j made on the underside of a bosslc of the cathode bar 9. lhis recess j is so related to the ridge or projection i that the side walls of the recess shall come in wedging contact with the sides of the ridge or projection, and, to this end, a corresponding clearance is provided, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 5. The relative conformation of the ridge or projection and of the recess permits of this wedging contact. In the instance illustrated, the result is attained by making the angle ,of the recess smaller than the angle of the entering. ridge or projection, but it will be understood that this is merely one of many other like or equivalent expedients for producing the same result, that is to say,

145 of causing a binding or wedging contact on opposite sides of the ridge, or projection and between said sides'and the lower edges of the recess.

In so far as the wedging contact is concerned, it may, as hereinbefore indicated,

he made at any point, in electrolytic apparatus of this general character, where electrical connec ion is established, either between a cathode and anode, or between an anode and the supply bus-bar,- or between a cathode and the exit bus-bar, or between a cathode or an anode and a common bar elec trically connecting the two as is the general practice. It will be understood, therefore, that in illustrating this form of wedging contact as applied to. an anode and cathode, I do not restrict myself to that particular use of the wedging contact, but intend to cover it generically in all of the other and similar relationships referred to.

aeoacce No claim is made to the feature of my invention involving the direct contact of the cathodes of one vat with the anodes of the neighboring vat, as that forms the subject matter of a divisional application filed by me April 17, 1916, and serially numbered 91,585; the claims of this application are directed to the feature of my invention which concerns the character of the contact including the provision of a wedging action of one part on the other.

What ll claim is:

1. An electrode for electrolytic apparatus, in combination with a cooperating conductor, the contact between the two consist ing of a projection on the one and a recess in the other, the walls of the recess coming in wedging contact with the sides of the projection and clearance being provided beyond the contacting surfaces; substantially as described.

2. An electrode for electrolytic apparatus, in combination with a coiiperating conductor, the contact between the two consisting ofa ridge on the one and a recess in the other, the walls of the recess coming in wedging contact with the sides of the ridge; substantially as described. 3. An electrode for electrolytic apparatus, provided with a ridge or projection, in combination with a corresponding electrode having a recess engaging said ridge or projection; substantially as described.

4:. An electrode for electrolytic apparatus, having a supporting lug provided on its 0 upper or top surface with a projecting ridge, in combination with a corresponding electrode supported upon said lug by means of a recess engaging therewith; substan-- tially as described.

5. A. cathode supporting bar consisting of a bar of conducting material adapted to extend across an electrolytic refining vat and to have a cathodesuspended therefrom and'a member forming a support for one 1 0 endof the bar, said member and said end of the bar being provided one with a recess and the other with a pair of converging walls and the said convergingwalls and the walls of the recess being adapted to engage 115 with a wedging contact.

6. A cathode supporting bar consisting of a bar of conducting material adapted to extend across an electrolytic refining vat and to have a cathode suspended therefrom and 120 provided with a notch in the under side thereof extending across the-bar near the end thereof, the walls of the notch being adapted to make a wedging contact with a projection forming a support for one end of the bar.

7.-An electrode for electrolytic apparatus in combination with a cooperating conductor, the contact between the two consisting of a recess in one and converging sides of the other, the walls of the recess coming of the other, the walls of the recess coming in wedging contact with said sides, and in wedging contact with the said sides. 10 clearance being provided beyond the contact In testimony whereof I afiix my signasurfaces. ture, in presence of two witnesses.

5 8. An electrode for electrolytic appara- ROBERT L. WHITEHEAD.

tus in combination with a cooperating con- Witnesses: ductor, the contact between the two consist- JOHN C. PENNIE,

ing of a recess in one and converging sides F. C. McCARRIoK. 

